International travelers who need passports can apply for them at a “Passports on the Move” session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Wednesday at the AAA Travel & Insurance Center, 100 International Drive, Williamsville. The outreach session is sponsored by the Erie County Clerk’s Office and the AAA of Western and Central New York.“I encourage anyone planning their upcoming vaca…

The lighthouse in Buffalo Harbor will be getting a lens for the second time in its long history.The Buffalo Lighthouse Association announced a $120,000 project to remove the classic Fresnel lighthouse lens, which had become increasingly fragile, and replace it with a larger and more historically appropriate lens.The removal and conservation work is slated to begin Aug. 19 …

The annual inspection of New York’s canal system began in Buffalo Tuesday as the Tug Syracuse departed from Erie Canal Harbor for the first leg of the tour between Buffalo and Lockport.The inspection will be conducted during the next two months in two- and three-day segments along the 524 miles of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca waterways, the State Canal Cor…

A city man was in fair condition late Tuesday at Erie County Medical Center after being stabbed by a Cheektowaga man, Buffalo police said.Anthony Osburn, age unavailable, of the 600 block of Bailey Avenue, was stabbed several times in the upper body and neck, according to South District police who arrested Benjamin Addison, 39, of the 200 block of Cayuga Creek Road, on the…

Daniel Johengen, chef-owner of top-rated Southtowns restaurant Daniels, is retiring after dinner Sept. 14.“It’s just time,” said Johengen, whose Hamburg restaurant has consistently been rated among the best in Western New York. “We’re old and tired. I’m not that old, I’m 58, but we’re tired. It’s been 23 years.”Since 1990, Johengen and his wife, Debbie, have worked togethe…

In the wake of a Buffalo human service agency’s bankruptcy last week, other organizations scrambled to ensure more than 200 clients with physical and developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injuries continued receiving services, officials said Tuesday.Debt-ridden Phoenix Frontier Inc. shut its doors Friday as a result of its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankru…

One of the alleged kingpins of a West Side drug ring pleaded guilty Tuesday to selling cocaine and using a firearm as part of his drug trafficking.Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser said Javier Navarro of Buffalo admitted working with others as part of a conspiracy to sell cocaine from January of 2009 to February of 2010.Navarro, who was part of a gang that traffi…

When Alan Bedenko gets home to Clarence after staring at a screen all day as an insurance defense attorney and fires up his backyard pizza oven, he makes the best pizza in town.At least to him. And when it comes to matters of the heart, like ultimate pizza satisfaction, who else’s taste really matters?“I am obsessive-compulsive, almost, when it comes to the quality and typ…

June 3, 1926 – Aug. 7, 2013John A. Stevens Jr., of North Boston, a retired Buffalo Schools engineer, died Aug. 7 in Mercy Hospital after a short illness. He was 87.Born in Buffalo, he attended Technical High School and enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He served in the Pacific in World War II aboard the USS San Diego, the first ship into Tokyo Bay after the Japanese surrende…

A man who fell asleep at the wheel in a McDonald’s drive-through lane on Main Street in Newstead Saturday morning was arrested for driving while intoxicated, according to New York State Police.Jesse L. Blair, 32, of Newstead, was found sleeping in his black Chevrolet Malibu with the engine running, authorities said. Blair failed sobriety tests and submitted a breath sample…

Vandals armed with a disregard for property and quarts of used motor oil left thousands of dollars of damage in an early-morning rampage on a roughly four-block area in Cheektowaga, police reported Tuesday morning.The vandalism left its mark on lawns, roofs, siding, brick fronts, driveways, vehicles and garages, mostly on Barbados, Dartwood and Woodgate drives, which run n…

State police at Clarence made an unusual arrest over the weekend, charging a Cheektowaga woman with driving while intoxicated and confiscating a set of hot pink metal knuckles, according to police reports.A trooper stopped a vehicle on Main Street in the Town of Clarence at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday, after spotting the driver using a cell phone.Samra Skopljak, 25, of There…

The City of Lackawanna has reached a tentative deal with its firefighters on a new contract, although key details of the proposed pact haven’t been released.City Attorney Antonio Savaglio revealed during a City Council meeting Monday that the negotiating sides had reached an agreement.The Council went into executive session to discuss the negotiations.The city’s 50 firefi…

Clayton Fattey and His Orchestra would grace the bandstand in Slade Park on the Hamburg Fairgrounds, filling the evening air in sweet song.Singing along from song sheets, the crowd crooned along to the old-time tunes. “Five foot two, eyes of blue, turned up nose, turned down hose …”“You’re a grand old flag you’re a high flying flag … ”“In the good old summer time … Strolli…